riverside sluggers

Id still prefer to see Drew bat 5th. Ive heard historically that is where he has hit best, and it gives very good protection for Manny instead of Lowell or Varitek

Also of note is that Pedroia came up after a full season in the minors, he wasnt actually in early season mode. This kid makes some solid contact. Many times up in the majors saw him throw his arms up in the air as the opposing team made web gem after web gem to snare his hard liners. He has good gap power. Like Loretta he'll never be that much of a HR hitter, might have a caeeer mark of 15 HRs. In a lot of ways actually he is a younger Loretta in the making. His glove is steady and has good range as a 2nd baseman. He will make an all-out effort to dive for hard grounders Something Im sure the Sox also love is his plate patience. A rookie having struckout just 7 times in his first 89 ABs is very good, making him a good candidate to help out on a lot of hit & run plays. He also works the count like Youkilis, making the pitcher work. If by the end of 07 season he doesnt pan out, I'll put in my sig that I was wrong for believing in him like that. Until then.. I have trust in him to be a valuable member of the Sox this season .285 avg, .365 obp, 28 Doubles, 10 HRs, 60 RBIs

You saw him in 32 games, 89 ABs... sparingly because he wasnt being played everyday Ive seen him play in Lowell, Portland and recently Pawtucket. I have the advantage of seeing how he is on a starting day to day basis

They dont back themselves into a corner by opening another position slot they have to re-fill?

Who's the center fielder then for 2007?

Its nowhere near to think about Cora as the everyday shortstop, Lugo is favored to be the starter still. I threw up when I saw him in your lineup

It would be better to deal Coco next offseason. He's a good stop gap to make way for Jacoby Ellsbury who could be up in Boston sometime from the All-Star Break to September. Coco is expected to have a better season than 06, netting better trade value

This deal has been "finalized" since thanksgiving, just officially announce the f***ing deal already. With or Manny or without Manny, Drew's going to be the right fielder either way.

When did they turn down LaRoche & Broxton? Link?? I thought I heard that the Dodgers backed away because the Sox were asking too much

wow 89 ABs... you havent shown me anything kid Again going to post this. He got off to a rough start making the transition from Triple A to the majors, naturally. That rough start really hurt his avg 4 for 41 (.091 avg) Double, 2 RBIs, Run, Walk, 4 Ks Turn-around 13 for 48 (.271 avg) 3 Doubles, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs, 6 Runs, 6 Walks, 3 Ks Boo the kid if you want on opening day, but eh I got something called patience

Todd Jones-esque type closer, alex cora type shortstop, two lower tier prospects-- Why havent the Sox jumped on this type of trade yet??! I see what youre getting at but I cant believe the Sox will lie down for 0.20 on the dollar

Sox officials were worried about Loretta accepting arbitration because they didnt want it to harpen Pedroia's development. Being left in Triple A or being given the Lou Merloni treatment is not something this kid deserves. Im going to be sitting pretty when Dusty is producing for the Sox this season

comparison stats Chris Carpenter avg of 50 Walks a season 17-24 HRs a season (quite impressive that he allowed 7 last season in the new hitters park that is busch stadium Barry Zito avg of 80-100 Walks a season 25-30 HRs a season (and his home park has been what? The spacious stadium in Oakland) It'll be best for Zito to land himself in the NL and as big as a ballpark he can find

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6239412 The Royals have made a strong bid for Batista at 3 years/$24 million. I only say "strong" because when is the last time they made this type of offer to a free agent? He has also received interest from St. Louis

Week Fourteen NFL Football Spread - NFL Game Dates 12/7 - 12/11, 2006 Spread Category : Date & Time Favorite ................ Spread .................... Underdog 12/7 8:00 ET At Pittsburgh............... -7.5 ........................... Cleveland 12/10 1:00 ET At Kansas City.............. -3 ........................... Baltimore 12/10 1:00 ET Atlanta ....................... -3 ..................... At Tampa Bay 12/10 1:00 ET At Detroit ................. -2.5 .......................... Minnesota 12/10 1:00 ET At Houston ............... -1.5 ......................... Tennessee 12/10 1:00 ET At Carolina ............... -3.5 ........................... NY Giants 12/10 1:00 ET Indianapolis .............. -1.5 .................... At Jacksonville 12/10 1:00 ET At Washington .......... -1.5 ........................ Philadelphia 12/10 1:00 ET At Cincinnati .............. -11 ............................. Oakland 12/10 1:00 ET New England ............. -3.5 ........................... At Miami 12/10 4:05 ET At San Francisco .......... -5 .......................... Green Bay 12/10 4:05 ET Seattle ..................... -3.5 .......................... At Arizona 12/10 4:15 ET At San Diego ............. -7.5 .............................. Denver 12/10 4:15 ET At NY Jets ................... -4 ............................... Buffalo 12/10 8:15 ET At Dallas ................... -6.5 ...................... New Orleans Monday Night Football Point Spread 12/11 8:30 ET Chicago .................... -6.5 ........................ At St. Louis Straight Category : Date & Time Favorite ................................................ Underdog 12/7 8:00 ET At Pittsburgh........................................ ......... Cleveland 12/10 1:00 ET At Kansas City.............................................. Baltimore 12/10 1:00 ET Atlanta ................................................. At Tampa Bay 12/10 1:00 ET At Detroit .................................................. . Minnesota 12/10 1:00 ET At Houston ................................................ Tennessee 12/10 1:00 ET At Carolina .................................................. NY Giants 12/10 1:00 ET Indianapolis .......................................... At Jacksonville 12/10 1:00 ET At Washington .......................................... Philadelphia 12/10 1:00 ET At Cincinnati .................................................. Oakland 12/10 1:00 ET New England ................................................ At Miami 12/10 4:05 ET At San Francisco ......................................... Green Bay 12/10 4:05 ET Seattle .................................................. .... At Arizona 12/10 4:15 ET At San Diego .................................................. . Denver 12/10 4:15 ET At NY Jets .................................................. ..... Buffalo 12/10 8:15 ET At Dallas ................................................. New Orleans Monday Night Football 12/11 8:30 ET Chicago .................................................. . At St. Louis Monday Night Football Total Points Scored : ................ ___32___

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2685697 The Reds have an offer on the table for Mark Loretta

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/12/05/lester_said_to_be_making_progress/ Couple of things... 1) The JD Drew waiting game continues. The Sox have long been the favorites to land Drew and for a couple of weeks we have kept hearing the official announcement will come soon. They said it would happen this past wknd, it didnt. Now Theo is saying that it might come before Thursday (winter meetings ends), "maybe, maybe not" 2) Theo envisions Mike Timlin being able to regain his role as principle set up man. Doesn that make everyone feel warm inside

http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=170537 This new rant article is "nice", wouldnt everyone agree? Gerry Callahan's main phrase is "Manny hates you"

Why didnt you just say this... Yankees pitching will rock Sox pitching will suck Compact Yankees glorification rather than an essay I had to get my reading glasses for I also love that quote about how the Sox pitchers will find it tougher to get wins right now because they dont have a closer and shape of their bullpen... You dont say? The Sox arent going to make any more moves and go with a bullpen of Snyder, Tavarez, Lopez, Delcarmen, Hansen and Timlin as our closer? Thanks for clearing that up for me

Im beat up more because of the reliever free agent class contnues to dwindle in front of the Sox FO's eyes

A year and a half removed from surgery, Octavio Dotel is only listening from teams who would give him a chance to close

http://Guardians.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061204&content_id=1749984&vkey=hotstove2006&fext=.jsp physical today, looks to be a 1 year deal Another one bites the dust...

I believe Jonathan Broxton is the prospect that they covet most from the Dodgers, as he would give them right away a possible lights out closer EDIT: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-dodgers5dec05,0,4461056.story The Dodgers came away from the meeting with Boston asking for a steep price of 3 top prospects that included outfielder Matt Kemp & reliever Jonathan Broxton. It could be put on the back burner

Toby Hall is likely to be non-tendered by the Dodgers making him a free agent. Its better to give up just cash for his services. He'd be a serviceable 1 year backup catcher for Boston